DIETMAR HAMANN has mocked the way Andros Townsend has emerged from relative obscurity to become England’s new “saviour”.

Former Liverpool and Germany midfielder Hamann says that even though a number of German stars are either injured or will be rested for tonight’s friendly at Wembley, Joachim Low still has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal.

Hamann said: “With Germany, if you get your chance to play in the national team at the moment you’re in on merit. With England in recent months and years, that has not always been the case.

“You don’t seem to need to have had many good games for your club to get a go.

“We’ve seen that with Townsend, who only made his international debut a month or so ago. He has been on loan at nine different clubs – and yet he is being hailed as England’s new saviour.

Hamann expects a decisive German victory will put England in their place [GETTY]

The talent and options Germany have going forward is frightening. It’s certainly the most un-German Germany international team. They can even play without a centre forward when Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose are injured and it doesn’t matter because they can all play in any attacking position and score goals.”

Hamann, who holds the distinction of netting the last goal to be scored at the old Wembley, expects Germany to inflict a second successive home defeat on England for the first time since 1977 – and give Roy Hodgson more food for thought before next summer’s World Cup.

He said: “England did well to win the two high-pressure games at the end of a qualifying group that wasn’t the hardest. But I’m sure Germany will want to put a marker down at Wembley.

“I expect Germany to win. If they turn up with anything like their first XI, I think it will give England a pretty good idea of where they stand at the moment.”